Without a Familiar
by Aiko Isari
Summary: [01 AU] In the end, it was a painful accident. They never crossed in time as friends, so now they meet as enemies. The mage and the familiar are opposed and yet the life has still been given, whether either of them know it or not.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** _Oh look, more things are appearing. Go me! Okay, quick backstory. I had this idea... a while ago, don't really remember when it came up in my head. But... here it is for remi's randomAU! contest. The AU was relationship!AU, where a relationship exists where it didn't in canon, and vice versa, or a different relationship occurs between two canon characters. It's kind of fun. I'm not sure if this has been explored in the FFN fics but if it has, oops. Oh well, running for it anyway. Let me know what you think guys!

Also, this is a bit of a slow-going fic. I challenged myself to not breach three thousand words per chapter, just to spread things out a little. Anyway, here goes! Let me know how you feel! Even the criticism!

[01 AU] In the end, it was a painful accident. They never crossed in time as friends, so now they meet as enemies. The mage and the familiar are opposed and yet the life has still been given, whether either of them know it or not.

* * *

_Without a Familiar_

Chapter One: Random Tears

She didn't save his life.

She might have meant to, at one time, but she did not. And perhaps that was the biggest mistake of all.

She didn't heal him, and perhaps she ought to have done that. Instead now, he looked down upon her, staring at her with stone eyes and a heartless little smile on sewn lips.

This was a man who had no mercy. This was a man who had nothing left to lose.

Perhaps this was her fault. She should have been more observant. But she wasn't. And now she had no one, and nothing.

Not even a master. Her master didn't need her anymore.

She should have been scared, horrified at being abandoned. But that was a sensation she had known since the day her egg had hatched. A horrible, heart-rending loneliness. And it didn't hurt as much as it could, and she did not hate her master as she should. Because now she was strong, and she could defend herself from him and those like him.

Now she was strong, and her heart was locked up tight.

No one could open this box.

Much like no one could save Wizarmon from himself.

They could have been friends, but now they weren't.

That was just the way it was.

Tailmon had nothing to regret, because what could have been, she would never know.

She could still be hurt by his whispers, however, almost believe in his lies. But then she would snap out of it and run.

The only thing she had left to lose was her life, and no matter how much sadness touched her, she wasn't ready to give it up.

…

She didn't know why she was crying, today.

Hikari rarely cried for herself. Not because she did not think it was good and healthy, but she had a very happy life, and thus, hardly saddened herself enough to be well and truly needing of a good cry. Except at homework assignments but no one could be blamed for that.

Today, however, she felt absolutely _chilly_, like the time her brother had been caught in a thunderstorm in the middle of soccer practice and they couldn't go home because the streets had been so awful. He had to make her sit at the bus stop while he flailed his arms for a taxi. By the end of it, they had both been a couple of sniveling messes for their parents and every time lightning had struck outside the windows they had each cried for a good five minutes the whole ride home.

It felt just like that, only somehow much bigger, and emptier, like her stomach had been replaced with an organ made of pure ice.

She cried in silence, pretending it was a part of the unusual summer cold that had lowered her spirits so. She was the best at lies, or misdirection. One had to be, when they were crazy.

And she was. She was most certainly crazy. Had to be, saw things on the TV no one else did, heard voices while walking from school to home and back again, now that it was safe enough to do it alone. She managed to remember things that her brother couldn't, which was odd because he was so much bigger than she.

That was what crazy people were like. They had to be like that, or people wouldn't look at her so funny.

Not that this bothered her too much. It was like being bothered by random tears. Sometimes you could just be sad and couldn't help yourself. Or you were just sad for someone else. Well, as long as her parents weren't worried about leaving her here like this, she supposed it could be fine. It wasn't like her friends would come over, or Onii-chan would be here to worry. That was good.

That said... she was still crying... but if she closed her eyes, maybe she could think about the crying and... well, not _stop_ it, but make it easier. Hikari had done it before, so it should work now. It had to. If it didn't, well, she didn't know what she would do, but she would think of something.

She was little. Sometimes these things just... happened, according to Onii-chan. But she was eight. That wasn't very little anymore, now was it? Or perhaps it was. How did you define little, anyway?

She did not wipe the tears away, nor did she cry out at the sudden pain in her chest. No one would hear it, so it would be silly to make noise. Or maybe someone would. She didn't think so, though. She was quiet so the voices would keep talking most of the time. Understanding what they said was important in her mind because knowing what they planned to do would make it easier to adjust to them. Knowing their thoughts and feelings, and thus, knowing the source of the sadness, would help her to bear with the sadness of the other.

For Hikari, in all her eight-year-old worldly wisdom, realized she was simply sad for someone else. Knowing this made it all the easier for her to close her eyes and imagine the cold pit in her stomach becoming bigger, quite like an ocean wave that would swallow her and make the tears blend with the sea. Knowing this allowed her to smile a little and sit up straight in her bed, and banish the sensation of cold pajamas and sweaty skin (she was still sick after all) to think of that cold water.

It was easy then, to feel that coldness, to let it be slippery like a frog's outside on her hands. The tears began to taper away, replaced with a sensation that could be like floating in the sky. Well, that could be fun. She always did want to fly.

Or maybe this wasn't flying. Maybe this was running fast enough to fly. Was there a difference? She was insane, what did she know?

The cold wasn't going away, which meant that the sadness and the cold had to be from a person, which meant... the best thing to do now was...

"Hello!"

It was only polite to greet someone you couldn't see after all.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** _Well, chapter five is almost done, so it's okay to post this I think. Anyway, will be replying to reviewer comments after I write a review. And update Light. And Toll. Happy MLK day! Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Fair warning: I kind of wrote Hikari like Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, except I didn't have enough vague creatures and curses to choose from. Luna is awesome, no argument.

* * *

**_Chapter Two: To Be Strange_**

"_Hello!"_

The cheerfully voiced greeting in her head caused the white cat to trip and nearly crash into a nearby tree. She shook her head, trying to clear it, as well as looking around. That was not normal, not right. It was an enemy, had to be. One of _that thing's _accomplices, she would bet her Holy Ring.

"_What's 'that thing'? And you shouldn't have tripped, dust could fly into your ears and nose and brain and then you would be in a bit of trouble."_

Tailmon pulled herself to her paws and took off running again. She doubted the mental voice, as... distant as it sounded, was going anywhere. It was probably a taunt, to remind her she wasn't safe anywhere she went, so it would be better to just give herself up for punishment and not be such a coward.

"_That person seems very unkind, for you to think of them like that. You should keep running from them, whoever they are."_

"Seem to be doing that, in case you hadn't noticed!"

Why was she talking to it? That wouldn't get her anywhere. Or maybe she had finally lost her mind. Too many knocks down those damn stairs, probably.

"_No, no. You're wrong. I'm the crazy one, everyone says so. You just are listening to me. That's very nice of you. It's like having a friend. Are you my friend?"_

She listened to the voice again, and it, as odd as it was, seemed no more than curious. In fact, it didn't really seem to know who it was talking to. "Who are you?"

"_Me?"_ it said. _"I'm a person. Are you a voice from the air? Or were you on the TV? Because they talk on the TV, all roaring and sad because something is wrong. I try to talk back, but I can't do it when my family is home because they will get scared. Isn't that silly? To be scared of something they don't even see? Well, you probably think that's okay because you aren't like me."_

She didn't stop running, but Tailmon found herself listening still, listening to this strange, high voice babble in her mind about things that were rather rare, like families, and televisions, and insanity. Digimon were not insane. No, they always acted on impulses from their cores, and while that didn't make morality any more verifiable, it certainly destroyed the idea of therapy being a necessary evil.

She thought this voice, or person, whoever they were, needed some therapy.

"_I do," _the voice assured. _"But explaining that to Mama and Papa and Onii-chan won't work. Where I live, these things are supposed to be settled at home and not given to another person. It's some pride thing. Very strange. But... hey, maybe you can be my therapist. Then you won't cry anymore and I won't cry anymore and we'll both be over here."_

"Well, it would help if I knew where you _were_," she muttered, before shaking her head. Tailmon could not believe what she was doing. She really just had no clue what was wrong with her.

There was a small chuckle from a foot behind her. "Talking to yourself already, Tailmon? It's only been a few days."

Tailmon hissed, rising to her back paws and raising her fists near her face. "Stalking me already, _Wizarmon_? It's only been a _few days_!" A few days, her tail. It had been almost a month.

"_Oh, you two must not like each other," _the voice said, continuing to sound merely interested. _"Or maybe he likes you and can't show it to you because he's a boy."_

Tailmon crouched back down, ears back and tail lashing at the air. She didn't bother to answer as the broken sun on the man's staff was pointed at her head. "What can I say?" he said through a once-sewn shut mouth. "You're enchanting, my dear."

"Cut the charisma," she spat, crouching on her hind legs, which wobbled from exhaustion. "Am I going to get to kill you now, or do you have a lengthy anecdote I can use to get out of here?"

The man chuckled, adjusting his violet hat. His staff hand remained trained on her, glowing and sparking gold. "There is the _third_ option..." he began.

Tailmon merely moved, slashing claws down the elbow and ducking from the free gloved fist coming towards her head to kick him straight in the throat. _Is that a clear enough answer for you? _She snapped at his mind, not caring if he could read them or not. Not waiting, she took off into the nearby bushes.

_Too soft, _she cursed herself. _You could have killed him right then and there and been safe for a while._

"_But they would notice when he didn't come back, so then you would have more people after you. Why are people after you?"_

Crazy kid. Wait... what? "I'm absolutely terrible at sticking to protocol and being an absolutely horrible living being. My boss didn't like that, so I left. He didn't like that either." She leaped to a tree and pulled herself to jump from one to another. Cloaked bastard could fly so she really had to scat.

Shame. He had seemed so nice the day they had met in the castle.

"_Everybody looks nice until they pull your tail."_

"Okay, seriously, are you okay? Do you need help or something?" She really shouldn't be so concerned about a disembodied voice when she was fleeing for her life, but all things considered, it was better than being afraid. Which she _wasn't._

There was only a pause before the voice answered. _"I have a cold."_

Tailmon wanted to stop and facepalm. "What does that have to do with this?"

"_Well, you asked if I was okay..."_

Tailmon bolted back to the ground and sighed. "Forget it... where are you?" Wherever they were was probably better than here... but there were a lot of places that were better than here.

"_Not near you. Unless there are lots of giant buildings and a lot of humans walking around you."_

"You're _human_?" Well, that explained a lot.

"_And you're like Koromon!"_

"... Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me."

…

Hikari sat up a little straighter on her bed, and her cat mewed its irritation. Sorry, Miko. She reached out and stroked her head, allowing the cat to rest back in her lap. What was so strange about knowing what Koromon was? Or what Koromon was like? She had been very easily able to communicate with Koromon back then. Was that a bad thing? Probably, since Onii-chan didn't remember.

"Miss who is like Koromon?"

"_I'm _not _a Koromon." _

She found that the speaker seemed a little sensitive. Or maybe unhappy. Considering that person was chasing her, it was probably unhappy. She wondered what she could do about it.

Hikari thought and thought, and there was no answer in her head. Rather depressing, if she did say so herself. This was a person that needed help, and though she was sick and trapped in orange pajamas, she should be able to.

How?

There was a mental shriek of pain, and now she really wanted to know how, because there was a burning at her toes and fingers and it did not feel good.

She closed her eyes and thought, thought to a time when she could only speak with a whistle, a time that had a big pink blob and ate a lot of food. She thought she remembered being _different _then. It was before being crazy, but after being someone else. Someone who cried a lot but still went on a fun adventure.

Something had been different then. She just didn't know what that difference was. It was very strange.

She thought she could remember _being _that way... but had she ever _not_ been that way?

Hmm... now she had gone and confused herself.

Hikari pouted to a silent room, then opened her eyes. "Miko, do you know how I am crazy?"

Her cat mewed. The animal had been around since she was born. She probably did know, but couldn't explain it. No one could explain crazy. And no one should, unless they were like her. Which was sad. People should not be like her. They should be strong and brave and cool like her Onii-chan. Well, he wasn't that cool. He was just strong.

There should still be more people like him, though.

There was a sudden jolt in her chest, and the jolt of energy ran from her chest to her limbs and to her head and it _hurt. _She didn't cry, or panic, because that could scare the Miss-who-was-like-Koromon or make her even more sad and she wasn't sure either of them could handle more sadness.

Her brother often thought her timid. She was. Timid didn't mean weak. It didn't mean _dumb_. She could do things her Onii-chan definitely couldn't.

So she did.

Hikari, with her own tiny, mental hands, grabbed onto the pain. She clutched it between her fingers and began to tug. She did this very often, when her Onii-chan was sad and she felt it, or when a friend had hurt herself and she could feel it. So while beneath her image of her tight hands, the pain and the person in pain wriggled, she clutched it like a tug-of-war rope.

It didn't instantly give, of course. There was no fun in one of those games if it was just _over._

But in order to win, she knew she had to do one important thing:

"Miss! Miss, you need to be strong right now! I need to keep tugging and to do that, you need to let me. This will help! It really will!"

…

Through the pain, Tailmon hadn't been able to hear the high little voice anymore.

She had to admit, for a third-rate dropout of a mage, the guy was _good_ at lightning magic.

"I'll have you know I was kicked out_(1)_," Wizarmon chuckled at her thoughts. "I was just too curious for my own good."

She coughed and pulled herself up to her hind paws again. Good thing the guy was easy to kick around. He was just as stubborn as she was. "I don't know much about educations," she muttered. "But isn't that something to be ashamed of?"

"I used to be," he admitted, smiling. "But when you're alone long enough," he raised his staff and electricity wrapped around it once more. "You really learn to not care anymore."

"I'd sympathize if you stopped zapping me," Tailmon said dryly, and threw herself forward, sinking her claws into his stitched mouth. He screamed as she clawed at her face and she only scowled, leaping towards his staff and snatching it. "Thanks for the present!" Turning to run, she only made it a few steps before a ball of lightning struck her in the back.

She hit the ground, hearing him tsk through bleeding lips. "_You _are incredibly stubborn."

"Birdramon of a feather," she croaked as his boot stamped down on her back.

"Cute. Now, why don't we go make a plea bargain?" His blue eyes twinkled at her as he spoke, moving his foot back to hold her by her tail. "Let's face it, between you and chibi-bat back there, I think I know who I would rather see alive." Wizarmon almost smiled with sympathy. "It's not like you're leaving out of a sense of justice or anything. I know you. You take pity, but that's as far as you go. You left me there, you know. I saw you walk past, just like everybody else."

Tailmon hissed and laughed. "Guilt tripping already? Just cut the banter and kill me. Seriously, I know already that I'm a bad hero, but you're a worse villain."

"_He won't kill you! I won't let him!"_

She went still, a look of surprise on her face, and a shudder wracked her small, white frame. Then, his foot touched nothing but air as her body turned to static and disappeared.

For a moment, Wizarmon stared at where Tailmon had been. Then he laughed. "You just never stop surprising me."

With another chuckle and a sigh, he turned back to the darkened castle. "He's really not going to be happy with me, is he?" Twirling his staff, the man began to walk. "Suppose I should take my time. He's probably going to need a few new soldiers anyhow." He laughed, rubbing the red off of his face. "Never heard of a ruler of darkness so afraid of the _light_ before..."

Whistling a merry tune, the mage began to stroll to what was now his home, back to his master.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ Thanks for reading guys!

(1) According to the Digimon Adventure novelization (credit goes to onkei-kun for their translations of the first two volumes that I need to purchase), Wizarmon was banished from his original Digital World, Witchelny, because he read (and stole!) the forbidden Book. His form was changed to what he is now, as a result, which is Wizarmon. I have no idea what his original form was, unfortunately. If anybody has an idea or wants the link to the site where I found the translations, please drop me a PM.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:** _Hello! I'm still working on chapter six but I thought I ought to update this eventually. I don't expect this to be as popular as Light, or as supposedly good, but it's a fun fic and so far I am enjoying myself. Also, this is very slow, not that action-oriented, but still odd. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

* * *

Chapter Three: Different Sights

Tailmon woke on something soft and warm. Her fur felt a bit sticky, like someone had rubbed paste into the hairs. "What... happened?"

"Hello, miss kitty cat!"

At the voice, she bolted up, looking around and expecting trees and dirt, or worse, castle wall. But instead she found herself in a quieter, more muted setting, curled on a bed of all things. Pain racked her body and two hands gently pushed her back down. "You were all burned when you got here, so you really shouldn't move. The burn stuff is still trying to work. I couldn't wash you because you're a cat and all, so I thought you would hate it because Miko does."

The words weren't said very quickly, but nonetheless, the speaker seemed to be thinking faster than she was able to comprehend. "Who... are you?" Tailmon tried for the simplest, most understandable question. She wasn't sure which direction to look in, as the voice was too close to her head for her to tell.

Thankfully, the owner of the voice then moved, revealing a furless face with light eyes and an odd smile. "Hikari," she said, or at least it sounded like a she. They also sounded familiar, but Tailmon was a bit too groggy to make sense of it all. "You and I were talking before, you know? I'm surprised you were a kitty-cat. Koromon became a really big dinosaur but you are nice and small, did you know that? Did you? You probably did; you certainly seem smarter than I am." She fell silent and stepped back a little. Tailmon blinked, able to envision the other more thoroughly now. Small, baggy clothes, pale, sweat-drenched skin, harmless in appearance...

A human. A human had brought her here... to where?

Well, now that she thought about it, the answer was obvious: to the human world. Only the human world could be so tranquil for so long. At least, that was what the legends said. She doubted it could be that great.

At least it was quiet, to combat the ringing in her brain.

"I like kitties," Hikari suddenly said, as if the thought had just popped into her brain. "Or... no, that's not right... not like that." She paused, and Tailmon watched her face scrunch. Now that she listened, yes, this person did sound familiar. They had been talking pretty well, for what she thought was a blip of insanity... and then something had happened, and everything had gone blacker than that _bastard's_ bats.

"That's a bad word," Hikari noted. "But that person is probably bad enough to deserve it."

Tailmon stiffened. "You... You can read my mind?" Humans were _not _supposed to do that.

Who _was _this kid?

The girl nodded, then shook her head just as fast. "I guess I can... well... maybe. I'm crazy, so maybe I'm just already thinking what you're saying."

Crazy? Maybe... no. It was certainly... different. But it wasn't crazy. It was... unfocused, distracted. She seemed like she was trying to stay in the same general thought process as Tailmon herself, and it wasn't not working... she wasn't sure what was going on here.

"No one knows," Hikari said. "It's better to say I'm crazy though. People don't ask when you say that, unless you're a grown up, and even then." She then put a finger to her lips. "You are probably a hungry cat, aren't you? Do you like melon?"

Tailmon tilted her head. "I've... never had it?" She had _heard_ of it, certainly. Lots of Digimon enjoyed it. She didn't have much time for enjoyment; she had been busy. Searching... searching for someone.

But who?

Hikari nodded. "I'll get you some, since there are no pieces of fish and Miko is protective of her food." She walked out of the room, and a smaller cat slipped inside in her place. It meowed and Tailmon glanced at it.

"I don't know either," she told the other cat. Again, the cat meowed and she gave a sympathetic wince. Though she did not entirely speak ordinary animal, even she could speak close confidante. The cat left the room again, nosing the door open to accommodate the human and her plate of fruit. Oh, this was a melon. Or a type of one. She hadn't lived in many places with them.

That was probably because she had lived in too many places as it was.

Hikari set the fruit down on the bed. It smelled rather nice, a little sweet and watery. She nosed at it and reached for it with her gloved paws. Then she paused, looking at them. Could she even pick it up with these gloves? "Can you not hold it?" the human asked.

"I don't want to crush it," she admitted. The red fruit's innards- did she really need to think innards?- seemed fragile, like crumbling ice. If she tried to grip it, it might fall apart.

Hikari peered at her. "You must be awful strong to worry about things like that," she said. "My brother is strong, but even he doesn't think about that sort of stuff." She picked up a slice in her too-small hands. Now that Tailmon looked, the two of them were almost the same size. Why was that? Hikari lifted the slice of watermelon to her lips. "Neh, here. I'll hold it."

Tailmon almost refused. It was degrading to be fed, but she was tired, and the smell was nice.

So she took a bite and suddenly blinked. "It doesn't taste like much," she realized, wiping her mouth.

Hikari giggled. "It _is _watermelon. Water isn't supposed to taste like stuff."

Tailmon laughed. "You're right."

She shouldn't feel safe, or relaxed, or like everything was going to be okay.

But she did. For the first time since she had hatched, Tailmon felt okay.

* * *

Tailmon was sleeping.

According to Miko, cats were supposed to sleep a lot. But she was never entirely sure what Miko was saying, and her father always looked at her funny when she talked to the cat, even though it was how she knew not to take out the chicken bites in the pet food.

Hikari guessed, as she moved Tailmon to sit at her pillow so she could go back to sleep later, that being hurt, Tailmon would sleep more than normal cats. Which was okay. She still needed to figure out what to say to her parents. She didn't want to get rid of her.

She yawned, rubbing her eyes. When she had saved Tailmon, it had made her very sleepy. But she couldn't sleep now, Mama and Papa were supposed to call before they got to see her grandma. If she didn't at least _try _to answer them, it would make them worried and they might come back home.

Sitting outside of the bedroom, Hikari turned on the news. She liked the news. The creatures from Koromon's world were usually on it these days. But she was never sure if that was a good thing or not. It probably wasn't, since Koromon had had to leave.

Her chest hurt, and she looked away from the television, even as a serpent rose up from the sea and roared, to the obliviousness of the newscaster.

Hikari sighed. She was crazy; this was a fact. But how come nobody could _see_? Bad things could happen, and the grown-ups saw only what they wanted to. That was why she had wanted to go on the camping trip. Something important was going to happen there, she had been sure.

But she wasn't there now, and Tailmon was here.

Maybe there was something important about today, after all.

She switched the channel to a cartoon, and let it play, flopping to her side on the couch and closing her eyes. This was harder than she thought... though what was _this_ anyway?

It was probably staying awake... cause being sleepy was okay... and sleeping was good for being sick... maybe it would be okay for her parents to miss her while she slept for a bit...

Her breathing had begun to slow when she heard the air conditioner click off with the television. Hikari opened her eyes as the artificial wind stopped, sitting up slowly. "Blown fuse?" she said to no one, figuring Tailmon would sleep through it. It certainly seemed like something a blown fuse would do, except it wouldn't be so peaceful and smooth like that. It usually made a bigger fuss than that.

Then the microwave began to flicker, the small monitor speeding through numbers too fast for her to tell what they were. The VCR display soon did the same, a strange whirring noise filling the air. Hikari heard no thump from the bed and decided to leave Tailmon be. This felt familiar, like...

_The screen was covered in red zeroes and ones and swelling, swelling with something like a big bruise. Towards her, it was coming closer, and she reached out her arms..._

Another thing like Koromon. This day really _was_ special.

Hikari couldn't help but smile a bit.

As she did, on the other side of the living room, the computer turned on with a click. The screen was blue, which Hikari distinctly remembered her father telling Taichi was a _bad sign. _She was still learning how to type, but even she remembered blue screens were like death, or something.

So she went over to it and stared at it. There was no white text that she didn't understand, or even any text at all. Weird. Not crazy, though. Not yet.

Then the screen winked out and turned to a grainy black. Now, green hiragana and katakana began to make their way onto the screen.

_You are not alone._

Well, she knew that. There was a Tailmon kitty over on her bed, and she had her parents and brother and his friends and her friends. Of course she wasn't alone.

_You are not safe._

She wasn't? Was Tailmon going to hurt her? But she seemed really nice.

_You must become more._

Become more? Become more than what? This monitor sure was saying weird things.

_Would you like to change your destiny?_

Hikari blinked, and looked at her tiny hands. She wasn't even sure how destiny _worked_.

"I don't know," she said to the screen and the words vanished. For a moment, the place marker flickered in and out of her vision, as though not sure what to say.

Then new words crossed the screen._ Would you like to save your new friend?_

Well, the answer to that was simple enough. "Yes! She is nice and a cat and someone was hurting her badly and I want them to stop!" Well, that was a bit more than _simple _but that was okay. The person on the other side needed to understand and people just didn't seem to understand unless you talked. It was dumb, but it was true.

The words left the screen again, but this time they scattered like tossed glitter for a craft project.

The room was silent but for the beeping of the computer tower and then Hikari frowned. "Um..."

The monitor turned white, quickly becoming so bright, the little girl had to shield her eyes. As she did, something flew into her open left palm. It was warm, but it didn't burn. It cooled as the light faded, fitting smoothly into her hand. It was a strange sort of octagon with the diagonal sides curved and a screen, a small, pale green screen. It felt nice though, like a smooth pebble that you kept in your pocket instead of skipped in a pond.

Once more, the black screen wrote. _Your light is in your grasp._

The computer shut down and the air conditioner and television returned to normal. Hikari clicked it all off, and stared silently at the small, light-colored device in her hand.

Then she let out a small yawn. That was exciting and all, but so were naps!

Weird device in hand, she went into her room, and shut the door, curling up with Tailmon and Miko for a nice rest.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:**_Hi all! There will be all sorts of updates and postings throughout the day and probably into tomorrow as well. Please enjoy and let me know what your think!

* * *

Chapter Four: Stranger Dangers

Tailmon awoke feeling safe.

Instantly, she felt there was something wrong here.

She opened her eyes slowly, looking to see she had not been taken from the quiet, semi-cool house she had woken up in earlier, but remained on top of the pale blanket. Tailmon exhaled and relaxed, as much as she knew that might not be the wisest course of action. It was strange to feel safe, but to break it didn't seem very fun or wise either.

Swiveling her head to her left, she saw the girl who had patched her. Her name was hard to remember, vaguely ending with an "ee" sound and very bright. The girl looked somehow smaller than she already was, cheeks a little flushed and hair sticking to her face. It looked rather uncomfortable. Was she... sick?

Digimon rarely got sick. They got infected by viruses or wild programs, but not sick. Their data was forever altered, they got used to it, their lives flipped upside down... it was rather like evolving, but with more to lose.

That would be rather awful, if this strange human had that happen to them.

_Stupid, _she scolded herself. _It's just a human. Who cares what happens to one of them?_

Well... this human had saved her life. No one in Vamdemon's business was in the nature of helping one another. It was why there weren't many of them left in that castle.

So... this was unusual.

She couldn't say nice, because she still didn't know the girl's reasons, which were bound to be strange because the girl herself was strange. Yet... Tailmon couldn't say they were bad reasons, or this girl was bad person. Just different.

Then again, Tailmon had never really met a _good _person in her life.

She wouldn't recognize one if it dropped dead in her paws.

Deciding she was too tired to make any real decisions, Tailmon went back to sleep.

If she curled a little closer to the sleeping girl, well, no one would really notice.

…

She woke again to the sound of a door opening.

Instantly, her claws were gleaming in the sunlight, and though her legs still felt heavy, Tailmon believed that she could at least trip an intruder. Cat or no, she was still an Adult level Digimon, which could easily damage some _human _intruder. If it was a human intruder and not a Digimon intruder anyway. After all, if she had somehow gotten here, who was to say some other Digimon could not?

Tailmon rather liked being safe here. She didn't want to get rid of that safety.

… It had nothing to do with that human, except she owed her a debt. Really, that was all. The girl had saved her life. She would just protect hers until she could find a way back home.

And do what?

She ignored that part of her brain. Come to think of it, why was the human left alone here in the first place? She said she was sick, and there was no one here checking on her or anything. Did humans just randomly trust their small ones alone in their homes?

It didn't seem like that was a great idea now, since there was someone invading the house.

Slowly, carefully, she pawed her way from Hikari's side to the door. Her limbs hurt as they stretched, but it was bearable compared to the many falls down the stairs.

"_Don't look at me with those eyes."_

Well, she certainly can't now, can't she?

Bastard.

Hikari made a noise in her sleep as Tailmon touched the floor. She glanced at the little girl again, but her breathing didn't change. Tailmon, for reasons she didn't understand, smiled. A peaceful human. A weird, kind, peaceful human.

But weren't humans strange? Some called them evil.

_Not like I'm a saint either,_ she reminded herself, tearing her gaze away from the sleeping child. _I'm just going to protect her because I have nowhere else to go. I'm just going to keep her alive because she was nice. That's all. I don't have to like her; I don't have to understand her..._

"Tailmon?"

Hikari was looking at her, big eyes too solemn and young. She was looking at the way the cat's ears were stiff and claws poised to strike a moving figure. Tailmon hesitated, her tail beginning to swish back and forth. What would this little girl think if she hurt someone? Did it really matter? In a back part of her mind, the part that wasn't coiled to strike the intruder felt a deep-heaviness at her joints, sluggish and solemn. She was going to make that child watch murder.

Well... she might not.

Maybe just a little bit of blood. She had claws; it couldn't be helped.

"Someone's here, huh?"

Her voice was thick, as though spoken through cotton, but she was trying to raise her head anyway to look at Tailmon, see what she was going to do.

Tailmon paused, searching for the words that would pacify a human, or a young Child. She wasn't sure if she had ever heard any. Well... maybe this one would be okay with her being only half-truthful. "Yeah."

"Are you going to hurt him?"

"If I have to."

Hikari nodded, which looked unusual against a pillow. "No really bad things though, right?"

What on Earth did that... oh. "I can try."

Hikari nodded again, sitting up slowly. "Be careful, okay Tailmon? You're still hurt."

Why would she have to be careful? She wasn't the human. She wasn't even all that weak! Perhaps Hikari was mocking her. No... she wouldn't. She was... worried about her. When had someone ever been like that?

"_Come on now, you have to get up or he'll make it worse." _

That was a person who pretended to be kind once. But he couldn't control himself then, and had fought her. She had been played. She would not make that mistake again. This human was worried about her, yes, but that didn't mean she wouldn't use her. Or if she wouldn't, someone else would try.

What if someone tried to use Hikari?

Did that even matter?

She grimaced and nodded. "I'll be okay." She shouldn't be thinking so much. That wasn't what she did. Just obey orders, just survive, and everything would become clear.

But she had no orders anymore.

Shaking her head, she creaked the door open. The intruder, since here must have been one, didn't react, too busy looking at that refrigerator.

Tailmon examined him from behind. Did he belong here, maybe? He seemed weak, barely older than Hikari. No... he smelled similar to Hikari, only more like dirt and rough skin. She sniffed again, and grimaced. That was a Digimon's smell. Her eyes darted around until she caught sight of a pink blob on a counter. She grimaced, tail lashing, and crouched to stroke. She leaped on top with a yowl, crashing into the pink blob and rolling with it to land on the sofa. The human turned, clearly surprised but she didn't pay too much attention to it as the Digimon was biting at the bandages on her chest and flailing its pink ears like it wanted to slap her and didn't know what the flying heck it was doing.

That was good. It didn't need to. She was the stronger one, she just had to coil up enough energy into her claws-

Then she was yanked by the scruff of her neck and pulled back, thrown to hit that screen window. Or was it a door? She didn't much care. Tailmon hissed at the human, who was looking at her with abject horror. What, did he expect her not to attack him? Or was he surprised to see her?

Did Vamdemon already know she was here?

She couldn't risk that, definitely not. With a snarl, the cat threw herself forward once more, only to meet a white-gloved hand. Darn it. Her common sense must be going.

"Who the heck are you?" the human shouted, brown eyes glowing hot with anger, or maybe fear. She saw the sweat drip down his face, the way his teeth clenched, and knew it was fear.

Tailmon smiled. "What's it to you?" Her chest ached, like it had been electrocuted all over again. Damn it... that had been _stupid _of her. But she had been so close... should have counted on the human actually catching on faster than it took to beat down an enemy. Her claws scrabbled at the human's bare arm and he dropped her, giving her the chance to scramble back towards the door to where Hikari was.

No matter what, she definitely couldn't let him through. Whoever he was, even if he smelled like Hikari, Tailmon would not let him pass. There was no way the girl could defend herself. She talked to her _cat_ for goodness' sake.

"Back off," she snapped, raising her claws again.

"Taichi, stay back!" The blob squeaked. A Koromon. Didn't see many of those off of File Island. Heck, didn't see anything weaker than a Child off File Island most of the time. "She's dangerous." No kidding, bubble-breath.

"Tailmon?" She froze, hearing Hikari shuffling towards the door. "What's going on?"

"Stay in there, Hikari" She snapped without thinking. "I'll take care of these guys!"

"Take care of who?"

Tailmon desperately wished to be taller so her tail could hold the door shut but Hikari was already easing the door open a crack.

Hikari paused. "Onii-chan? What are you doing home?" She could feel the girl smiling, very vacant, not surprised, but merely curious. Were all human children like that?

Wait... she did know this human? Okay... Tailmon flushed. Oops.

Adrenaline gone, Tailmon slumped to the floor. Hikari opened the door fully and lifted her up. "No more walking for a while," she scolded. "You were hurt, remember?"

"Unfortunately..."she muttered. She could certainly _feel_ it now.

The other human had slowly moved to pick up Koromon, puzzled. "Hi...Hikari..." it began. He? Maybe? "Who... who is that?"

Hikari shrugged. "Tailmon. I brought her here. Tailmon, this is Taichi, my brother."

What.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:** _Hey guys, here's an update. Someday I will respond to reviews! Enjoy!

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Chapter Five: Complicated Predicaments

After a few minutes of Hikari patiently (at least it seemed patient to her but who knew?) explaining that humans had siblings as well as parents, the four of them were sitting on the couch in one form or another. Tailmon had her head in Hikari's lap, and her eyes closed. She wasn't relaxed, not exactly, but she wasn't tempted to go punch the living daylights out of Babies anymore. If it made her this sore... goodness what did that bastard _do _to her?

"Shocked you real bad," Hikari said aloud to her and Tailmon opened her eyes in mild surprise. She had said that aloud? "No, you didn't." Hikari gave her that same vacant smile and for a moment Tailmon wondered if all humans could read minds, considering this one seemed to be able to. She looked at the other person -Taichi, she probably needed to remember that so she didn't get him to attack her or something- and he didn't look nearly as serene as his little sister (that was a new phrase in her vocabulary. Humans must make a lot of words. How did they not get mixed up?). Instead he seemed to be more confused than Tailmon herself.

"Hikari?" Taichi began. "What is going on?" His hand was resting on Koromon's... well, body and the little creature was glaring at her. Tailmon ignored it. Even if she was injured, he was still an over-sized balloon with eyes. Not exactly as threatening as he probably thought he was.

Hikari made a strange noise and it was probably some sort of a sigh. Something like that anyway, except it was belied by... exhaustion? She was probably still sick and tired. Tailmon watched her eyes instead, watched them dim until they wore the same vacancy as her smile, tired and overdue. Her shoulders hunched a little, like she didn't really mean to, but it was an old habit.

As if hoping to be ignored.

Then Hikari shrugged. "Tailmon needed help, so I helped her."

Taichi stared, and despite herself, Tailmon started giggling. It was helpless, mewling laughter than she didn't remember ever hearing herself make.

Wait... laughing? How could she not remember laughter?

"Tailmon?" She looked at Hikari, realizing that her own laughter had trailed off into silent puzzlement. "Are you okay?"

"Probably not," she answered without thinking and then caught herself. Hikari was like a human Child level, possibly younger. She had to lie... well it was too late now. Hikari merely stroked the spot behind her ears instead of commenting, which was nice, she supposed, if disturbing. Taking that sort of comment lightly wasn't normal for a kid... was it?

Taichi certainly didn't. "Is she... a Digimon?" he said, deciding to drop it, much in the same way, Tailmon realized, that his sister had just done.

Hikari looked at her. "Is that what you are?"

Tailmon nodded. "A Digital Monster, or Digimon, yes. Tailmon, Adult Level, Holy Beast type." _Though how holy I am is debatable..._

"You're an _Adult_?" Koromon squeaked, half in horror, half because that was his natural voice.

She raised an eyebrow. "What, you expected someone taller?"

"Actually, yes!"

She snorted. "You're not all that threatening yourself, bubble boy."

Koromon grinned. "But I'm still cute, aren't I?"

Taichi laughed, sweat dripping from his forehead. "I'm not sure that's something for a man to be proud of Koromon."

"Eh, why is that a problem?"

Hikari giggled, petting Tailmon's fur once more. Tailmon watched her eyes slowly lose the glazed look as she laughed. Taichi had been distracted, Tailmon realized. They had all been. Pretty easily too.

_It looks like this kid is kind of dangerous, after all._

…

Hikari heard that thought, didn't question if it came from Tailmon or her own head. It probably did come from Tailmon because it certainly sounded like it. It sounded more mature than her, which was fine. She giggled again, watching her brother through almost-closed eyes.

No, Hikari, you have to keep this up. Keep distracting him from answers you can't give.

She reminded herself of that and looked around carefully, busying herself with tying the rest of the bandages on Tailmon's chest. Then she smiled. "Okay, I'm done now."

"Neh, Hikari, where did you learn to do that?"

Koromon sounded so cute! She remembered that before she was crazy, he was cute... and also ate cat food. She wasn't going to feed him Miko's food this time. She knew better now. It wasn't like he wouldn't eat it again... but it wasn't nice to get all scratched up like last time.

Hikari lifted Tailmon by her armpits. The cat squirmed at first, but then stopped, shuddering a little. She wondered why that was. Maybe she was just uncomfortable? Maybe? She didn't want to ask. It didn't seem right. Carefully, she moved the cat to be sitting straight in her lap. Tailmon frowned. "Hikari? Koromon asked you something."

"Mm!" She knew that, but Tailmon's head had to have been uncomfortable on her lap. It was a _big_ kitty head after all. "I sometimes had to bandage Onii-chan when he got hurt in soccer. Then Sora-san took over for me. She's really nice, a bit strung-up, but nice."

Taichi had flushed pink when Koromon gave this very happy nod. He knew Sora-san too then? That was good. It would be bad for Koromon to look after Taichi all by himself. Hikari continued. "Why are you here with Koromon, Onii-chan? Was camp canceled?"

She was worried. Did Mom and Dad know he was here? Or was it a secret? If it was a secret, why would it be? She kept these questions in her head. She couldn't let her Onii-chan worry about her panicking, if something was clearly wrong.

And there must have been something wrong because he hemmed, hesitated. Her brother was not supposed to waver. Or at least he wasn't meant to do it all that often, because he needed to be strong. That was the impression she had gotten from Mom: her brother had to be strong and she had to help him stay that way.

"Onii-chan?"

"Ah..." He caught himself. "No, camp wasn't canceled. I just came back for a bit, heheh. I didn't really mean to!"

"We went through a portal, didn't we Taichi?" Koromon chirped, and Hikari watched her brother's face tighten with dismay. Why would he do that?

"Koromon, ssh!" Her brother tried to clamp Koromon's mouth shut, and only managed to muffle whatever it was he was saying.

Tailmon was perking a little at those words, and Hikari patted her head. "Portal," repeated the cat, scratching one ear.

"Un!" Koromon seemed happier to be talking about it, and that Tailmon didn't look like she was about to roll on him again. Hikari hoped Taichi would stop then, because if it was important to Tailmon, it might be important to him. They had to have come from the same place.

She hadn't really _meant_ to bring Tailmon here, just to make that person stop hurting her. Because shocking people like that wasn't nice. Then again, Hikari didn't like joy-buzzers all that much.

"It was a portal," Koromon continued, all sharp teeth and big grin. "We could smell things we were trying to hear and see smells. It was weird and cool and then we were just here in..." He paused to look at Taichi. "Toh-key-o?"

Taichi struggled not to laugh. "Yeah, buddy, that's exactly how you say it."

Hikari giggled, and Tailmon shifted in her spot. "That's not any kind of portal that I know about," she murmured, tail swishing close to Hikari's chin. She snuffled, trying not to sneeze as the cat peered at her. "Did it stay open?"

"We didn't even know it ended."

"Onii-chan?" Hikari decided to interrupt before this got too confusing, which it inevitably would. From what she could tell, Tailmon was an _Adult_ (with a big fancy proper capital English alphabet letter to it), so it was likely she would always say rather complicated things like they were perfectly understandable and expect everyone around to know what she meant. That was a common thing for adults to do. "Do you have one of these?"

She held out the object that came from the computer and Taichi blanched. And he shouldn't do that, should he? No, he should have darker skin and a bright set of eyes and not look scared. Was this thing bad? It was supposed to help her with Tailmon. Was that a bad thing? Maybe?

Taichi looked at Tailmon, who gave him a shrug in return. So Tailmon didn't know what it was. Hikari should have asked before bringing it out. That was her mistake. She put the object down on the table and smiled, puzzled.

"Hikari..." her brother said, dragging out her name like he did whenever she went after Miko when it was dark outside and she had no flashlight. "Where did you get that?"

Hikari blinked. "It came out of the computer. Is that bad?"

"It _what_?" Taichi raised his voice, but only a little. Onii-chan remembered. Hikari had sworn to never help him or anyone when he started yelling at people too much. "It came out of the computer?" he finished, softer now.

Hikari gave an eager nod. "It had some weird words on it. It said I wasn't safe and I had to change my destiny." She couldn't give the exact words of the message, but did she need to? "I'm supposed to save Tailmon... or something." She looked down at Tailmon, petting her head. "I dunno how I can do that, because Tailmon seems really strong and cool, but..." she frowned. "If that guy hurts you again, I want to be able to stop it."

Tailmon didn't look happy. Maybe she didn't believe her, or maybe she didn't understand her. Hikari wasn't entirely sure of the way the cat's thoughts were going, but that was okay. She didn't need to understand. She just needed to be useful and helpful and less crazy. That much she understood.

The cat lifted her head to look up. "Why?"

Hikari frowned, taking less notice of Taichi, who was doing something very funny over on the couch. She figured he was getting angry. "Why what?"

"Why do you want to stop him?"

What a strange question. "Is it wrong to want to help somebody?"

"It's odd to help a stranger," the cat said.

"Why?"

Tailmon opened her mouth, then shook her head. "I... I don't know."

Why didn't she have an answer to that?


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**_Hey guys, sorry for the wiat. The next chapter might be a while, other multichapters are currently taking up some of my time. I hate midterms, like a lot. I'll have to go through and answer separate review questions at a later date. Until then, enjoy and let me know what you think!_  
_

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Chapter Six: Persuasive Arguments

"Hikari, let me check your temperature."

"Okay!"

Such an obedient human. Why? For survival, it was likely. Though the boy in front of her was related to Hikari, he was also bigger than her and healthier. Anyone with sense would not cross someone who was better equipped to survive unless they could get something good out of it, like protection. Perhaps that was it. But they -she- shouldn't look so happy about that, happy about submission for survival.

But… hadn't she been happy working for _him_?

"Tailmon?"

The cat swung her legs from her spot on the couch. Honestly, she wanted to go back to sleep, it had been weeks since she had slept as peacefully as she had in that bed, but… she didn't want to leave Hikari by herself. Call it a motherly instinct… if she was even _capable _of that, but something said leaving this human alone as damaged as she was was asking for something horrible.

But was she damaged?

That was what disturbed her, she realized as she let Hikari come over and scratch behind a painful itch behind her left ear. Hikari certainly accepted being damaged, and the way that her "brother" looked at her seemed to say he was always worried about her. But was she? She was different. She could read Tailmon's mind.

But damaged?

"Tai-i-n."

Her ears shifted and she looked to where Taichi was staring. He was shaking, horrified, as the computer screen blurred and fizzled before revealing a blank-eyed human boy.

_More _humans were aware of their world?

How many could there be?

_"Don't come back, Taichi-san."_

Oh, that wasn't ominous.

"All is well," the boy said. "Don't come back."

The image vanished.

Taichi stood there for a moment. "Taichi..." murmured Koromon.

The human said nothing, then he scowled, fist clenching and body trembling. The object in his hand had gone blissfully quiet, only to clack to the floor moments later.

Tailmon frowned, and padded back to where Hikari was back on the couch. This had nothing to do with her, not really. If it would help her get back to her world, that was one thing.

But that sounded personal. Best to leave well-enough alone.

Hikari was holding that weird device again. She still had no clue what it was, nor was she quite sure what it was for. At the sight of Tailmon, however, she smiled and held it out to her. "Want to see?"

A part of her brain wanted to make the snippy answer, but she raised her gloved paw over it anyway. Humor the human who thought she was crazy. Bet that didn't happen very often.

A gentle shock jolted through her fur, standing each hair on end. The strange device began to shine yellow and a warmth like the sun washed over her. She looked at Hikari, whose brown eyes suddenly seem a bit red and bright, but her smile remained vacant and sweet until surprise trailed up her face. Then, the light was gone.

Tailmon plopped back on her bottom, but for once it didn't hurt. The warm feeling tingled from her paws to her nose and all the way back to her tail. She stared up at Hikari, horrorstruck. The girl only looked back, expression mild, concerned. Something wasn't right, something was bubbling, something hidden in her mind so far back it hurt to even know it was there.

"Who... are you?"

Hikari looked at her with confusion. "Tailmon?"

"Who are you?" She repeated, voice rising. The cat saw the human wince and felt guilty, but fear was churning in her stomach more than that. "Why are you in my head?"

Tailmon watched Hikari's expression shift, moving toward that blankness she had only seen once. "I don't know," she said, her voice small. "I'm just Hikari. I don't know."

"Yes, you do." Tailmon felt her adrenaline rising again. "You _have _to know," she repeated, flinching at the desperation in her own voice. "You brought me here."

Hikari shook her young head, and the fear mounted. She doesn't know. She's too young to lie, she doesn't know.

Then why did that device say…?

"Who are you to me?" she said, ears lowering slowly. "Please… I need to know. Please…"

Hikari slowly walked over and Tailmon visibly flinched, anxiety running her paws to almost trip backwards and fall, but she failed when Hikari knelt to look at her. "I am… your friend, Tailmon."

"Friends die," she said. _Die, betray, hurt, that's what friends do, that is friendship, that means you will do nothing but hurt me._

Hikari sat on her heels. "Everyone dies, Tailmon. I'm sorry."

Her voice sounded so sad, and for a reason she didn't understand it hurt Tailmon's heart to hear her say that even though she was very little and fragile. Those were very brittle, old words that should not have been spoken right now.

"Then will everyone be as horrible as I am?"

That wasn't the right question, but the right one was too much vulnerability at once.

It seemed like Hikari knew that question anyway. "I won't go away if you don't want me to."

The weird device chimed warmly, for her ears alone, and whispered. _She is yours, you are hers. Your search is over._

When had she been searching for anything?

...

Taichi didn't like this.

The Digimon in front of his sister was quiet now, not docile exactly, but meek. It-she- seemed to expect a blow, and since his sister couldn't even hurt flies without looking sad, it wasn't happening any time soon. He wasn't sure what about that he didn't like, except for the fact that his sister had a Digimon at all.

Because that was the only reason she would have a Digivice. And that wasn't okay.

For a moment, he thought of his friends, back in the other world. What would they say if he brought them along? Would they even care? Probably would, if only because it would be another mouth to feed and another person to tag along with and keep an eye on. Even so, Tailmon was an Adult level, a naturally stuck there Adult level. That was something enemies had, normally.

Well, Koushiro would have a fit from that.

Though, seriously, what was up with him? It wasn't like he wanted to go back… but everyone was still over there. The phone calls had proved that. Didn't that tell him what he had to do?

But what about Hikari? Hikari, who looked so happy with Tailmon, well as much as she ever looked really happy about things. Could he bring her with and risk her life?

Good god, he was starting to sound like as much of a worrywart as Yamato. That was a terrifying thought.

Though he was probably going to get worse if she did. She was sick after all. Sick and tired, he bet. But… she seemed happy.

Tailmon made her happy. What was he supposed to do about that? Take her away? She'd probably never forgive him. Or she would, which might be even worse.

"Hey, Koromon," he said quietly. "What do you think I should do?"

Koromon shifted in his lap, where he had been dozing off. "I think Taichi should do what his heart tells him to do."

Taichi scowled. "Helpful, buddy. Thanks!"

"Taichi already knows what he's going to do," Koromon pointed out with a shrug of his ears. "I'm just here to support him until the end."

"Doesn't that feel wrong to you?"

Koromon and Tailmon stared at each other from across the room. The cat didn't look angry, but the meekness was long gone, replaced with a foreign, rather grown-up emotion, a fear of some kind.

Well, kids knew fear… but adults may know something different, something he couldn't put to words yet. Even though he was an adult to Hikari, he was still a kid to himself.

Koromon scrunched his lips, seeming puzzled. "I dunno why it would," he said finally. "I was born for Taichi. And you were born for Hikari, weren't you?"

Tailmon flinched, shaking her head with vehemence a second later. "I… I don't know about that."

"Why not?"

"I… I just…" Tailmon's ears drooped down.

"Koromon."

Hikari stroked Tailmon's fur. She wasn't really smiling, her expression was tired, but her eyes stood out against her flushed skin. "Please stop."

To Taichi's surprise, his partner did.

For a few minutes, they were silent as Taichi flopped back onto the couch. "It's too hot for me to think about things," he decided. Hikari giggled, then actually laughed when Koromon jumped onto his stomach. "Koromon! You feel like a sack of cinderblock!"

"Can I eat that?"

"Not if you don't want to get sick!" he cried, and Hikari kept laughing, up until she started to cough.

And the coughing didn't stop.

"Hikari!" Taichi vaulted himself over the couch to try and help but soon spit was sinking into the carpet at the spit was starting to be flecked with red. Tailmon had fallen to the floor and she didn't seem to care when Hikari tumbled after her, looking horribly frightened.

_Of course she doesn't know what's going on. Can Digimon get sick?_

The answer to that question didn't really seem to matter, because iridescent light began to glow from Hikari's skin as she coughed.

Outside, there was a scream of metal and concrete as something large fell onto their balcony, something that glared with beady red eyes.


End file.
